Here is an interesting post on walking from a fellow Blubber Blogger.  I liked it because it was about C. S. Lewis, one of my favorite Christian authors.  You can read more from Denise's blog by clicking here. I've been going through some boxes of books I had still packed away from out move here.  One I'm reading through again is called Faith-based Fitness by Dr. Kenneth H. Cooper - the medical program that uses spiritual motivation to achieve maximum health and add years to your life.  It is quite interesting, esp. for the beginner exerciser. But I was surprised to see a quote from CS Lewis inside entitled A lesson in How NOT to Vary your Exercise. The Cambridge don and popular Christian philosopher C.S. Lewis was a great walker, and he enjoyed sharing his walks with others who could carry on a stimulating conversation.  But on one occasion, he made the mistake of varying one of his outings by taking along a less than compatible companion.  Here are some excerpts from a letter he wrote to his brother on March 20, 1932. You asked Mrs. Moore in a recent letter about this Crashaw man.... I had to go for a walk with him.... it seemed good to him to take a bus to the station and start our walk along a scrubby path between a factory and a greasy strip of water.... He is a ladylike little man of about fifty, and is to a T that "sensible, well-informed man" with whom Lamb dreaded to be left alone.... I blundered at once by referring to the water as a canal. "Oh, could it be that I didn't know it was the Thames? Perhaps I was not a walker?"... A conversation on weather followed, and seemed to offer an escape from unmitigated FACTs.  The escape however was quite illusory and my claim to be rather fond of all sorts of weather was received with the stunning information that psychologists detected the same trait in children and lunatics.  Anxious to turn my attention from the unpleasing fact, he begged my opinion of various changes which had recently been made in the river. As I had never seen any of the mentioned places before ("But I thought you said you were a walker...?) this bowled me middle stump again... But I must stop my account of this deplorable walk somewhere.  It was the same all through-- sheer information. (a very effective public school education hehe) Time after time I attempted to get away from the torrent of isolated, particular facts; but anything tending to opinion, a discussion, to fancy, to ideas, even to putting some of his infernal facts together and making something out of them-- anything of that sort was received in blank silence. --from W.H. Lewis ed., Letters of C.S. Lewis pp 150-151. Lessons from Lewis on exercising with a companion: One of the best motivators for sticking with an exercise program is to find a "soul mate" who can make you look forward to each outing. One of the biggest deterrents to an exercise program is to dread having to meet a companion who is "out of sync" with you.  I expect that if Lewis had been forced to face the prospect of walking with this particular man every day, he would have given up walking altogether and perhaps turned to a treadmill instead!From Faith-based Fitness p. 158.

Hi Ladies, This is a post from FlyLady that one of our members sent to our email support loop.  It talks about the dangers of drinking pop, soda, cola, or whatever you happen to call that fizzy carbonated beverage in your neck of the woods.  :-)
Besides being bad for us for weight loss, the caffeine acts as a diuretic.  Then add the risks that this post talks about, and you may have some added incentive to give up drinking pop!  (Ohio's pop is Boston's soda and Mississippi's coke...) lol

Dear FlyLady,   

I always drank some water but couldn't break my addiction to 2-3 Diet
Cokes a day. As a hundred pound weight loser, I drank a Diet Coke
whenever I wanted excess food.  When I lost my voice last summer, I
was diagnosed with gastric reflux disorder, impinging on my vocal
cords. As I sing professionally, this was a major crisis. I was given
a list of foods to avoid -- citrus, tomato, spicy foods, caffeine --
but first on the list was carbonated beverages, especially colas, diet
or otherwise, caffeiniated or caffeine free.
   
I never thought I could give up my Diet Coke habit, but the fear of
losing my voice and career overcame my fear of losing my crutch. I am
here to report that there is life after Diet Coke. The first few weeks
were very hard, but now I don't miss it, and I have definitely
increased my water intake.
  
For those of you who are not professional singers, you should know
that the acid in colas can cause problems in your esophagus which can
lead to a precancerous condition. My doctor (ENT) said that Diet Coke
was terrible to drink but pretty useful to clean your car battery.
That should tell us something.

Best to all who are working on eating (and drinking) in a healthy way.
  
A FlyBaby in Maryland

Hi Fellow Blubber Bloggers,

As you all know, I had planned to have a Walk Across America Challenge, and with all that has been going on, just simply have not had time to complete my plans for it, most importantly the graphics that would have made it fun to see how far each time had progressed.  However---I just found a really cool website that is very similar to what I had planned, and would make this really easy for us to do.  It will even let us do it as teams so that we can compete as I had originally planned.

Please check out the site at http://www.4woman.gov/whw/woman/index.cfm and let me know if you would like to be a part of this.  I know that we are registering late, but we can still see which team can go the furthest toward their goal!   You do need to have a pedometer to do this or a conversion chart if you don’t have one. I haven’t looked yet, but I would bet anything there is a chart on the web somewhere that would convert miles to steps for those of you who don’t want to purchase a pedometer.  I bought one that is very accurate for $15 a few weeks ago, so they aren’t terribly bad price wise.

If you are interested in participating, please let me know asap, and we’ll divide into teams, get registered, and get walking!  This ends on July 7, so we still have a month that we can have fun with this.  I sure wish that I had found this site sooner, and I wouldn't have had to try to reinvent the wheel!!!

Hugs to all,

Kathy, Your Blubber Blogger Moderator

I just got The First Place Challenge book in the mail yesterday, and am devouring it. It is SO GOOD!!!  When I get done, I'll post a review for you to read.  The thing I like about this program is that it focuses on balance and control in all areas of life---spiritual, emotional, physical, and mental.

There are other good things in this series, too.  I have the original First Place book, which is excellent, and am just starting another of the series of First Place Bible Studies, which also include tons of diet/fitness information, menus and recipes, and a CD of Scripture memory verses for each week. 

These are books that fellow Blubber Bloggers may want to check out! 

I wanted to let you know that I am back.  The past couple weeks I have been sick, and finally was diagnosed with a really bad case of diverticulitis.  I'm on meds and a restricted diet now, so hopefully I'll be feeling better really soon.  There is so much that I want to do with Blubber Bloggers this summer, so please pray that I get well really soon. 

If you would like to read about my recent adventures, visit my blog, Through It All.  I have several recent posts telling all about my CT Scan, my nasty tasting pills, my corkscrewed colon, and the worry of waiting for a diagnosis.  These were experiences that I would have much rather not had to blog about! 

I want to thank each and every one of you for your prayers!   I would have been a worse basket case than I already was without them :-)

Hugs to all from Kathy

I wanted to share a post that one of our Blubber Blogger members shared on our email support loop.  I thought that it would be meaningful and helpful for many of you who read our blog and aren't a part of our support loop. 
If you find this kind of help and encouragement is something you would like to be a part of, you can sign up for our email support group over on the sidebar of our blog.
Blessings to all,
Kathy

The chat tonight will be at 9 P.M.  EST. and will be using AOL's Instant Messenger.  Jeannie is staying at her mother's, and her mother has AOL, so that was the deciding factor in which one to use.  There is a free version to download on the AOL site, so hop on over and download it if you would like to participate tonight. 
   
To be involved in the chat, I have to invite you to the chatroom, so I have to have your screen name in order to invite you.  YOU HAVE TO SEND ME YOUR SCREEN NAME TO PARTICIPATE!!!  There is no way I can invite you without it.  The best way to let me know is by private email at mkin@udata.com.  Just put your screen name in the email, and put CHAT somewhere in the subject line. 
   
If you have a question to ask Jeannie please send it to me, as I would like her to see as many of the questions ahead of time as possible.  That way she can look up information for her responses. 
   
Thanks, ladies, and I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible in the chat tonight. 
   
Kathy, your Blubber Bloggers Moderator

I would like to introduce our first guest lecturer, Jeannie Fulbright, the author of Apologia Elementary Science and a personal fitness trainer.  Thank you so much, Jeannie, for being willing to share with us here at Blubber Bloggers! 
After you have read Jeannie's lecture, please feel free to submit questions for our group chat.  You can post your questions here on our blog in the form of a comment to this post, or you can send your questions to our email support loop.  We invite anyone struggling with weight loss and fitness issues to join our group so that you can be a part of this group chat.  Simply click on the logo on our sidebar to join. 
I will be letting you know the date and time of the chat as soon as I confirm it with Jeannie.  In the meantime, be sure to read her lecture carefully and think of how to apply it to your own weight loss and fitness program, and be sure to ask any questions that you would like Jeannie to respond to in our chat.
Blessings to all the Blubber Bloggers,
Kathy, your BB Moderator

We would love to have a section of our beautiful new blog (designed by Kris and Amber, both BB members) devoted to the amount of weight lost by our members.  Would our members please either drop a comment off here on the blog, or in a post to our email support loop, letting me know how much weight you have lost since joining Blubber Bloggers???  Then I'll get Kris and Amber to post this in a neat spot on our blog where everyone can see what a wonderful job we are all doing! 

Each month we will then post an updated number.  Just think how many pounds we will lose as a group!  It should be fun to see the numbers add up!  Even if you have only lost a pound or two, when added to everyone elses, it will make our numbers climb!

I personally have lost 16 pounds since JenIg started her funny posts about Blubber Blogging, and that is the time that I consider myself to have become a Blubber Blogger.  You can count your weight from whatever time you feel you were a Blubber Blogger at heart, and not necessarily the date you joined the email loop.  Just let me know either here or on our loop, ok, ladies???

Kathy, your Blubber Blogger Moderator

Announcing the first ever Blubber Blogger Guest Lecture!  Jeannie Fulbright, of Apologia Elementary Science and a fellow HSB, has graciously agreed to be our very first guest lecturer.  She will be "speaking" on Healthy Eating and High Glycemic Index Foods this upcoming week, right here on our Blubber Blogger Blog, and also on our Yahoo Groups E-Mail Support Loop. 

Jeannie not only writes the elementary Apologia books, but is also a personal trainer, so has extensive knowledge on this subject.  I am so very excited that she is willing to share with all of us, and help us in our weight loss/fitness journey.  If you have read Jeannie's science books or visited her blog, you are well aware of her love for the Lord, and it is an added bonus to have a Christian sister helping us learn more about the proper foods to eat for a healthy and fit body. 

You will see her lecture here on the BBBlog as soon as I receive it from her.  Please take time to read it over, and discuss it here in comments or on the loop. 

The coolest part of all is that Jeannie has agreed to do a follow-up chat with us after the lecture.  After you have read the lecture, think of questions you may have for Jeannie.  Send them to me at mkin@udata.com, or post them on the loop, with the subject heading "CHAT QUESTIONS FOR JEANNIE."  That way Jeannie can research her answers.  I will give her the questions in the chatroom (fire up your AOL instant messengers or download the free version, ladies, if you would like to participate in the chat).  After she has answered, you may give a couple follow-up questions on the same topic.  Then we will move to the next submitted questions, followed by another couple follow-ups, etc. 

This should be an experience that we will all learn a lot from.  Please feel free to join our group over on our sidebar so that you can be a part of this learning experience.  We'd love to have you join us! 

Kathy, Your Blubber Blogger Moderator

Look up there at the top of our blog and you will see the prize-winning logo for our logo contest!!!  It was designed by Blubber Blogger member Kim Anderson.  Kim has her own Walking Challenge site, too, which I know you will want to visit.  Many, many of the Blubber Bloggers use Kim's wonderful Walking Challenge and the cute tickers she has for both walking and water intake as motivation in their dieting, fitness, and healthy eating programs. 

So many people have commented that they liked Kim's logo design because the letters get skinnier and skinnier, and all of us Blubber Bloggers would love to see our bodies and our clothes' sizes shrink just like those letters do :-)

Be sure to stop by Kim's blog and congratulate her on having the prize-winning logo.  And a big thank you to the other people who entered designs.  Any one of them would have been a wonderful addition to our blog, and I appreciate the time you all took to create your entries. 

To join our wonderful group, please sign up on our sidebar!  You'll be amazed at the help and support you will find with this amazing bunch of women.  I hope that many of you will join us as we attempt to make our bodies a fit temple for the King! 

Kathy, your Blubber Blogger Moderator

Just a few odds and ends to put on here and there, but here's what it's basically gonna look like. Kim and Kris did most of the work, I'm just putting it together, they deserve all the credit:)

God Bless,
Amber

I mentioned in a previous post on my own blog, Through It All, that I had set the TiVo to record a new program, "Honey, We're Killing the Kids," which is a new TLC series.  I was pleasantly surprised to see how well this program was handled.  Hopefully this show will help many parents realize that they are, indeed, killing their kids.

The family featured last night was totally out of control in many more ways than just eating!  The 8 year old son had never once slept in his own bed---straight from his crib into his parents' bed with mom---it didn't really say where dad slept...  Both parents were chain smokers.  The boys both played video games non-stop, and the family had no concept of going out and doing things together.  There were no chores or family responsibilities for the boys at all, and they were not required to do anything to earn privileges.  The youngest son was developing behavior problems that were directly linked to caffeine and high sugar intake. 

The doctor on the program, a nutritionist, feels it is her life goal to make parents realize that allowing their children to be out of control in their eating and other areas of life that contribute to obesity is really killing their children.  She wants to make them understand that they are in control, and they are responsible for their children already being in a situation that threatens their health. 

To accomplish this, she uses state-of-the-art computer imaging to show the parents what their child will look like each year until the age of 40, if they do not change their current behaviors.  This is done after she analyzes the family via hidden cameras in the home for a week so that she can get accurate information about their lifestyle.  In this program, the boys, 8 and 12, were non-stop eating machines, and the oldest was 3 times the weight of a normal 12 year old boy.  The 8 year old was also severely overweight, and was pre-diabetic and asthmatic (yet the parents continued to smoke while he had to be on a nebulizer!)

Even I was shocked to see the appearance of these boys as they aged via the computer imaging, as were the parents.  They were told that by not taking control of their sons' eating, they were in effect, taking 15 years off their lives, as if they continued their present lifestyle, they would most likely die by the age of  60. 

The rest of the program showed a week by week program of improving their family's lifestyle, which lasted 3 weeks, and then the boys were re-evaluated.  Some of the rules the doctor gave were get rid of all junk food---completely pitch every bit of it, the parents were to stop smoking, youngest son sleep in his own bed, start exercising by enrolling in a boxing class, parent alone time, earn privileges by having a chore chart, eating healthy meals that they were given recipes for, and so much more. 

It was fun to watch as the boys changed their attitudes through the three weeks from "this is like prison" to being excited about their new lifestyle.  The oldest son lost 15 pounds during the 3 weeks! 

On re-evaluating the boys, basing the new computer imaging on the assumption that the boys would continue their new lifestyle, it was exciting to see the handsome men they would become---and with a normal life expectancy!  

Moms, if you have children who are obese, especially if this is a generational thing for your family, and you yourself are not able to control either your own eating and/or your child's eating, I encourage you to watch this program.  You just might learn something that could add years to your child's life! 

Would you like to have a Blubber Blogger Buddy???  I notice that some of our Blubber Bloggers disappear now and then, and often it is because they have “fallen off the wagon” with their weight loss/fitness program, and are drowning in the depths of despair.  Just when they need their fellow Blubber Bloggers the most, is when they seem to want to hide. 

Thus the idea of a Blubber Blogger Buddy!  If you disappear from the email loop for any length of time, your BBBuddy will check in on you at your home on the blog and/or email you to see what’s up, make sure you are ok, and pray for you; and you will do the same for your BBBuddy.  This is the best form of accountability and support---having a partner to care about you when you need a helping hand. 

If you would like to have a BBBuddy, and be one in return, please let me know either here on the BBBlog, by email, or on the loop.  I’ll take the names of all who are interested, match them up with a buddy, and let you each know who your buddy is.  I hope that this will help and encourage each of our members, knowing that someone is personally looking out for you and praying you through the tough times. 

“Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.  For if they fall, the one will lift up his floow:  but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.”  Ecc. 4: 10

As you may have read in a post down below, we were on a quest to find the 36th member of the Blubber Bloggers email support group.  And she is-----Sheryl from Taking the Challenge!   And would you believe that she was one of the originators of the online support group???  She had been away from her home on the blog while moving, and without internet access, but once she got back to civilized living again, lol, she faithfully joined Blubber Bloggers, and somehow hit the lucky number!   Sheryl will receive her choice of First Place books as her prize.  Be sure to visit her blog and congratulate her! 

The Blubber Bloggers now number 39 strong.  If you are having weight loss, healthy lifestyle, and/or fitness issues in your own life, we invite you to join us by clicking on the yahoogroups logo on our sidebar.  We'd love to have you! 

Be certain to send this information to the Blubber Bloggers email loop, so that I am sure to receive it. The address is BlubberBloggers@yahoogroups.com

Here are some of the cool links that you will find on our featured weight loss blog this week.  Try them out, then run over to MamaTrish's weight loss blog to find more cool stuff! 

  If I want to walk 3.5 miles in one hour, it will be 17 minutes per mile.

If I aim for 60% of maximum heart rate, which is good for a beginner, I should have a target rate of 100, and range of 92-142.

 At my age, body height, and weight, and being moderately active, (as opposed to nearly sedentary just 6 weeks ago), I would need 2760 calories to maintain my body weight.  I do NOT WANT to maintain my body weight, so I am aiming for 1500 per day.

 If I go with 1500 calories, then they should be broken down into 600 calories in carbohydrates, and 450 each in protein and fat....not sure I agree with this one... what do the rest of you think????

  It says 32%??? My scale says 42% ....I wonder which is the more accurate???

   33...Is this number supposed to be close to the body fat percentage number?  How are they different? 

  135...that's what my average weight was in college and the early years of marriage, so this is probably pretty well on track, but being realistic, my body is not the same as it was way back then, so I would be very, very happy to be in the 140's. 

Many of the Blubber Bloggers joined the group because they felt they needed the accountability of others to "keep them honest" in their weight loss/fitness journey.  Well, it's working!  Blubber Bloggers now know that they cannot hide the fact that they run over to fellow member JenIg's blog and eat half a pan of BROWNIES!!!   For shame on the brownie eater, and for JenIg for allowing this to happen over at her place!  Oh, my, you can run, but you can't hide, right ladies???  And Jen, how COULD you let this happen right there in your home on the web?  LOL   Both of you need to behave like good little Blubber Bloggers from now on!

I found out about this when I downloaded my morning email from our loop and it started out with a post whose subject line read, "I'm tellin'!"  A very vigilant member caught our dear friend right in the act of overindulging!  I think our BB friend will think twice before going off the deep end while visiting with JenIg, cause she knows another BB will catch her sure as can be :-) 

We also got an email with a request to "drop everything" and go support a fellow BB who was in the midst of a "very bad day," as Eeyore would say.  I am proud of all the ladies in our group who went to encourage our friend and lift her up with prayer and with encouraging words and suggestions. 

This is the kind of help YOU can find by joining the Blubber Bloggers.  If you are having weight/fitness/healthy eating issues of any kind, we would love to have you.  You can join on the sidebar, and we will welcome you with open arms :-) 

Wow...I have seen so many wonderful blogs on weight loss here at HSB!  It was really hard to pick one for the featured weight loss blog of the week, but I finally decided.  And the winner is.......(drum roll, please).....MamaTrish from I'm a Little Teapot Short and Stout. 

Trish's blog is cute, and full of helpful information and motivation.  On her sidebar are some wonderful blinkies, which I do believe she should enter some of them, at least, in our weight loss/fitness blinkie competition.  Lots of other cool graphics, too. 

But along with being a cute blog, I found the links to be especially helpful.  Trish has links on her sidebar to help compute such things as caloric needs, BMI, ideal weight, body fat percentage, etc.  Also some wonderful links to places where you can buy healthy things to eat!  YUM!!!  

I liked her post about rewards she has planned for herself to add some motivation to her weight loss/fitness program.  I plan to borrow a few of her ideas myself.  I'm also looking forward to checking into some of the graphics sites that she has used that specialize in weight loss "thingies" for blogs. 

Thanks for a wonderful blog, Trish!

Blubber Bloggers is featured in this week's Carnival of Homeschooling, hosted by Tami.  I want to welcome any of you who are visiting and looking to see what our group is all about.  Have fun looking through our blog.  We have several contests going on now, two of which involve "decorations" for our blog.  In another week or so, we will have a completely new look, so be sure to drop back in and visit us after we redecorate! 

If you are struggling with weight loss or weight maintenance, fitness, or healthy eating habits, you have come to the right place.  The ladies who have joined Blubber Bloggers are a great source of encouragement, advice, and accountability.  Please consider joining us as we endeavor to make our bodies fit temples for the Lord. 

Thanks for dropping by! 

Mistresninos had a neat entry on her blog that seems awfully appropriate this week!  It gives the calories for all sorts of Easter goodies.  Trust me, you don't even want to THINK about eating a 7 oz. chocolate bunny!  :-)   Click here to help you decide if the Easter candy is really worth it or not.

Here are some other links from that same site:
• Wendy's Healthy Holiday Recipes
• Walking Calorie Calculator
• Calories Per Day Calculator
• Google Map Pedometer:

Many of you know how inept I am at computer things.  I have tried and tried and tried to claim our blog at TTLB, and am not able to do so.  In fact, now that they have the new system in place there, I can't even claim my own personal one, but at least I already had the html embedded in my site.  We need to have that done here at the BBBlog.  Anyone know how to do this with the new system?  I can't seem to get much of anything to work in our sidebar, so I'm anxious to see the winner of our logo contest so that Kris and Amber can get to work on designing our new template! 

Just for the record, I don't LIKE the new system. It's more complicated, and also, just when my personal blog reached Marauding Marsupial, it kicked me clear back to a Flappy Bird.  If anyone wants to take pity on me and link to me on your homepage, I'd love it :-)  My personal blog is Through It All.  I'll be happy to swap links with others who are trying to work their way up through the blogosphere. 

We currently have three contests going on.  You can read about them in previous posts down below to get more info, but I wanted to remind you of them. 

Contest 1 is the "Design the Blubber Blogger Logo" Contest, and entries are due by April 15th.  Please send them to me at mkin@udata.com.  I have received 5 so far, and they all look terrific!  I know that several others of you are working on them, and probably others that I am not aware of.  Just make certain that they get to me by the end of the day on the 15th.  All will be posted here on our blog and all members will get to vote.  Names of the designers will NOT be given, so that we can be as fair as possible in our voting.

Contest 2 is for those who are not graphics people, but still want to help us decorate our blog.  It is the "Find the Neatest Weight Loss and/or Fitness Blinkie" Contest.  Find the best ones you have run across, and enter one or more of your favorites...as many as you like within reason :-)  They will also be due to me at my personal email address by the end of the day on the 15th.  Be sure to include any credits that must be included when posting the blinkie so we can give the linkback when necessary. 

Contest 3 is for "Finding the 36th member of our group."  You can read below why I picked the number 36 :-) 

All winners will receive a copy of the First Place book of their choice.  Graphics and blinkies winners will get to see their design featured on our blog site and other places. 

Coming up after Easter...Our Trip Across America Competition!  This will be a team challenge, where we will walk, bicycle, jog, run, climb, and swim our way all the way across the USA!!!  May the better team win!  I can't wait to see what fun we can have with this!  Please encourage friends who are thinking about joining our group to do so in time to be a part of this challenge.  It should help all of us in our weight loss and fitness goals this spring and summer!  And we'll even have lots of fun doing it!  I am working on a really, really cool prize for the members of the winning team and a really super duper one for their team captain! 

Blubber Bloggers currently has two polls that are active on our Yahoogroups homepage.  To get to the polls, just click on the bottom of any of your emails from the loop, and you'll find yourself on the homepage.  Then click on "Polls" on the left hand side. 

One poll is on holidays and how they affect our diet and fitness programs.  I'd love to see as many of you as possible participate in this poll, as I'd like to use the results as part of a conversation on the loop this week.  Soooo, hop on over and vote :-)

The other poll is a new one.  Many have asked about opening the group to hs bloggers who are not part of the HSB communities, but are hs bloggers on other sites.  I ran this by Gena, and her response was " I am TOTALLY ok with it being outside of HSB.  That allows our community to mix with others and that is a good thing!"  If we were to open the group to other hs bloggers, we would still require them to have a current hs related blog, and check their blog to be certain that they will fit in well with our groups purpose and values.  I want to make certain that everyone who is a member of our group will always feel that they are safe on our loop.  It will always be a closed group and require permission to be a member, and the yahoogroup homesite will be open to members only. 

Please vote in this poll. It asks your opinion on opening the group to hs friends who blog elsewhere.  I want your input on this before making a final decision.  If you have very strong feelings one way or another, please email me at mkin@udata.com and let me know your thoughts, so that I can take them into consideration when making the decision.  I would like to know by Tuesday, as our blog will be featured in this week's Carnival of Homeschooling, and I would like to let people know for sure if they are able to join or not. 

Thanks for helping out! 

I have decided to post my weekly progress reports here on the Blubber Blogger Blog, so that the rest of you can see that if I can do it, you can, too!  Honest!  I started out walking only about 15 minutes a day and was so out of breath I thought I would die.  And that was walking at a very, very slow pace.  Was I ever sore when I got out of bed in the mornings---OW!!!  I was SO out of shape, I was ashamed of myself.  I had let God's Temple fall into a pretty sad state....  :-(  

And the blubber...I am an emotional eater, and cleaning up my eating habits has been a daily struggle that I don't always win.  I have lost 15 pounds, and need to lose 17 before Easter.  I sure hope that I reach this first mini-goal!  Please pray that I will accomplish it, as it will really help me to feel like starting with a new goal after Easter.  The scale has been stuck at 15 pounds for several weeks....I am beginning to think the scale is broken :-)  

I am beginning to find out that after a few weeks of going with good, wholesome foods, I actually am LIKING them!  I never thought I would be one to pick up a celery stick or an apple and actually enjoy it, but I do!  If I cheat and eat a boatload of chips or brownies, I actually feel sick afterwards, both physically and mentally.  So it does become a habit once you really force yourself to do it for several weeks.  I even am finding that I PREFER water over diet soda!  WHOOPEE!!! 

Below is a sample of a weekly progress report that you can put on your own blogs if you like.  You just need to change the numbers to fit your own goals and other numbers.  I got the water ticker, the Walking Challenge banner and ticker, all at Kim's blog.  (see the post below on how to get these).  I got the weight loss ticker at TickerFactory, but you can find these many places.  Find one that you like.  I personally feel that posting these results for the rest of the Blubber Bloggers to see helps hold me accountable to my goals.  I try harder when I know that I have to "report in" each week.  On my personal blog, I often post the daily things each day, such as water intake and miles walked.  I want to start adding what I eat each day, cause having to confess that I scarfed down a plate of brownies will sure help keep me from doing so, iykwim :-) 

Keep us posted as to your progress each week, so that the rest of us can drop by and encourage you, cheer you on, and lift you up when you fall. 

Good luck, and may God bless each of our endeavors to make our bodies His temple, and to put HIM first in our lives rather than food. 

Love, hugs, and prayers to all my fellow Blubber Bloggers,
Kathy, your Support Group Moderator

P.S.  To join Blubber Bloggers, just click on the link I have in the paragraph below the Walking Challenge banner, or on one of the sign up logos in previous posts.  We'd love to have you join us!

I have walked today: While I walked, I was thinking about the awesome new Blubber Blogger support group for all of us who are trying to shape up. Check it out here on my own site and on the official Blubber Blogger site.

I have posted a new poll on the YahooGroups Blubber Blogger page.  Just click on polls after logging in and you will find it.  The poll is about how holidays affect your weight loss/fitness program.  It should be interesting to see the results. I 'll post them here in a few days, after everyone has had a chance to vote. 

Do you want to be a part of the Blubber Bloggers email support group?  We'd love to have you! 

Click to join BlubberBloggers

After a couple emails, and thinking of my own ineptitude at artistic endeavors, I have decided to start an art competition for the "artistically challenged" members of our group.  Those of you who can design graphics, please refer to the contest below about the logo design competition.  This is for the rest of us...lol.

We all love blinkies, right???  I know that there are tons of great weight loss and fitness blinkies "out there."  Our sidebar would look great with lots of really cool blinkies that relate to our purpose as a group.  With that in mind, I am announcing the rules for the "Great Weight Loss and Fitness Blinkie Hunt" contest. 

If you find a blinkie, or blinkies, that you think are just the absolute neatest ones you have ever seen that fall into this category, please sent them to me at mkin@Udata.com.  Be certain to include the url to any credits that are to be used when making use of these blinkies, so that when they are posted, we can provide the necessary linkback or logo. 

All the same rules apply as to the logo contest.  You must have your entries sent to me by April 15th.  Members will vote on the blinkies without knowing who submitted them.  The winner will receive a First Place book of their choice.  And yes, in anticipation of this question being asked, you can submit a blinkie that you have designed yourself if you so desire. But they may be from any place that you find them, as long as you follow the rules for use at the site you discover them, and provide me with the proper url information.  You may submit as many blinkies for consideration as you like. 

Have fun blinkie hunting!!!  Let the competition begin!  :-)

I took the quiz that Kris had on her blog (see previous post or click here), and here are my results.  I thought I was ready!!!   Guess I will have to continue to work on my attitude about this weight loss business.  Let me know how YOU did on the quiz! 

Quiz: Are You Ready to Lose Weight?

Your Results

You Are Almost Ready You want to lose weight, but you may not want it for all the right reasons. To prepare yourself, start thinking about the challenges ahead. How will you fight cravings and temptations? Will you plan your meals in advance? What exercise will you be able to fit into your schedule, but also enjoy? If you can work out the answers to these issues, you will be ready to take on the challenge.

Here is the pledge form that you can print out on the quiz site.

I've been reading lots of blogs that our members have on weight loss, and would like to feature one each week, so that all of you can be encouraged by the hard work that other members have put into finding information that will help us all in this weight loss and fitness journey. 

This week's featured blog is Through Thick and Thin, by Kris.  Kris has some wonderful information on her blog, not to mention some pretty neat graphics that you'll love to see.  I especially like her post on a 3-week plan to reduce sugar intake.  I know that sweets are a big temptation to me!  How about the rest of you? She also has a link to slide shows relating to weight loss, and a quiz to see if you are mentally prepared for what it takes to begin a weight loss program.

If you see a great weight loss and/or fitness blog you would like to see featured here, please leave a comment or email me at mkin@udata.com. 

Thanks for such an educational blog, Kris!   I know others will find it as helpful as I have.

Someone has asked how they go about leaving a comment here on the Blubber Blogger Blog.  There are several ways. 

1)  If you have an actual post you would like to see appear here, I would be happy to consider it.  Mail the link to your original post to me by email at mkin@udata.com.  If you have not posted the information you would like to see posted here in your own blog, but would still like to have it considered for posting here, email the article to me in its entirety, including your name and the url to your personal blog site. 

2)  To leave a general comment on one of the posts that already appear here, you can do so easily.  Just hit "leave comment."  You can then either log in, if you are a HSB member, or click Anonymous if you are not.  We would really appreciate you putting your name or screen name at the end of your post, and the url to your personal blog so we can come and visit you. 

3)  Foreign visitors...we'd really love to know where you are from and what unique challenges you are facing as a hs mom and also in your weight loss/fitness struggles.  It will be fun to get to know you!  I think it is so interesting to see that we have so many visitors from different countries both here an don my personal blog.  I've had countries on my personal blog that I had never even heard of...isn't that awful???  If you'd like to share where you are from, just let us know in the comment you leave. 

Now that wasn't too hard, was it?  LOL 

I'd love it if you would drop a comment the next time you drop by! 

Do you know that Blubber Bloggers has already been visited by people from all 50 states and 8 foreign countries???  Isn't that cool? 

I'd love to know if these visitors are homeschoolers and what it is like to homeschool in their homelands!!!

Just a reminder that we have 2 contests going on right now.  One is to design a logo for our group, which will be displayed not only here on our home blog, but also can be used by members on their own blogs.  The winner will not only get the pleasure of seeing their design used all around HSB, but also will win a copy of a First Place book of their choice!!!  

Any member may submit a design for a logo to me by sending it to mkin@udata.com.   Entries must be in by April 15th, so that we can use the logo as part of our new blog template that Kris and Amber will be designing (more excitement!)  Each member will be given a chance to vote on the winning logo after they are posted here on the BBBlog.  The names of the designers will NOT be revealed until after the competition in order to make this contest as fair and unbiased as we possibly can make it.  So all you graphics people need to get busy and get those logos sent to me :-)   

The other contest is to find the 36th member of our group, who will also win a copy of a First Place book!  It could be YOU!  Invite your friends to join, so that perhaps it will be one of your own blogging buddies who will receive this prize.  Read down below about why the 36th member is the next prize winner.

I encourage all of our members to remember to blog about the Blubber Bloggers occasionally on their personal blogs, and to get the word out to as many people as possible.  I know that many are struggling with weight loss and fitness issues just like I have been, and could use the help and support they will find here. 

I am open to ideas for other contests that we can have during the spring months.  Let me know of any good ideas you may have thought of.  I'd love to hear them!